Safety

Remember to Slow for the Cone Zone 

The Colorado Department of Transportation and Colorado State Patrol are joining forces to promote safe driving along the 18-mile I-25 South Gap corridor. High Speeds and following too closely are the leading causes of crashes in the Gap, requiring increased education and enforcement. 

Increased Enforcement By Aircraft 

Since the I-25 South Gap project began in September 2018, CDOT has funded increased enforcement along the corridor. But with crashes rising 60% in one year, mainly due to unsafe driver behavior, additional enforcement will take place seven days a week. Motorists can expected increased State Patrol enforcement by aircraft. 

Fines are doubled in construction zones. For example, traveling at a speed 10 to 19 mph over the speed limit is a Class A infraction and can result in a fine and surcharge of $323 in a construction zone and four points assessed against your driving record. 

Decreased Speed Limits

In CDOT's ongoing efforts to improve safety, the speed limit will be reduced from 60 mph to 55 mph during peak travel times in both directions of I-25 between Castle Rock and Monument. This will include the morning and afternoon commutes and good portions of the day on weekends. Motorists can expect speeds to be further reduced during inclement weather and traffic incidents along the corridor. 

Ultimately, drivers must pay attention to the speed limit signs any time they drive the Gap. 

CDOT Safety Efforts

  • Funding increased law enforcement to seven days a week
  • Installing portable variable speed limit signs, providing the ability to lower the speed limit during peak travel hours, inclement weather and incidents on the roadway
  • Implemented a Project Operations Center, which monitors incidents through closed caption TVs, helping to cut response time by half from 40 minutes to 20 minutes
  • Frequent restriping to help with delineation, including solid striping at curves
  • Decrease single-occupancy vehicles through Bustang, vanpools and carpools
  • Provide accurate and timely information to motorists through texts, e-blasts and Facebook

What Motorists Should Know and Do

  • Leave plenty of room between your vehicle and the one ahead - you are more likely to get into a crash if you follow too closely. 66% of crashes on the Gap are caused by rear-end collisions resulting in nearly 80% of injury crashes.
  • Be extra cautious and vigilant when driving in a work zone
  • By nature of a work zone, lanes and shoulders will be narrower and more difficult to drive through. Please anticipate changing roadway conditions, with frequent traffic shifts required for construction
  • Heed the signs, drive the speed limit and for the conditions of the work zone
  • If possible, avoid driving the Gap in inclement weather. During past storms, motorists heeded CDOT's warnings and limited travel, which helped greatly reduce crashes and prevent closures
  • If there are no injuries or impairment suspected, please move your crash off the interstate to the nearest exit away from traffic
  • Always slow down for first responders
  • Take advantage of information sources to get the latest work zone information. Text I25GAP to 21000 for alerts

New Technology

To ensure drivers – and our crews – get home safely, the I-25 South Gap project team is on the cutting edge of technology. Smart Work Zone technology is increasing safety and maintaining traffic flow through this vital transportation corridor.

I-25 South Gap is the first project in the state to implement all of the following Smart Work Zone technology:

Queue Warning System

As a vital transportation corridor for commuting and commerce, it’s important to keep motorists apprised of delays so they know what to expect and can take alternate routes as needed. With this technology, sensors detect speeds upstream, which update the variable message signs to let motorists know the estimated time it will take to get to certain locations such as Larkspur, Monument, etc.

Pan Tilt Zoom Cameras

Additional portable cameras have been installed to capture areas along the corridor that CDOT cameras currently don’t have access to. These cameras feed into the Onsite Project Traffic Operations Center to help the project team see traffic in real-time.

Truck Warning System

With an average of three trucks every five minutes delivering and/or picking up material daily throughout the 18-mile work zone, the I-25 South Gap project team wants to warn drivers about trucks entering/exiting the highway. To do so, a sensor is attached to a portable sign in the work zone. When a construction truck passes the sensor, a variable message board (pictured to the right) farther back in the corridor is triggered and will light up a sign to warn motorists in time to slow down and yield to the truck.

S. Gap Truck warning system

Portable Variable Speed Limit Signs

The project has the ability to change the speed limits in real-time – based on weather conditions, crashes or construction-related impacts. Those enforceable speed limits are displayed on 22 variable speed limit signs installed along northbound and southbound I-25 from Monument to Castle Rock. The variable signs replace existing static speed limit signs. 

Portable Variable Speed Limit Signs

Responsive Variable Speed Limit Signs

Some of the Variable Speed Limit Signs also display driver speeds and flash at various speed enforcement intervals. The goal of this technology is to display driver speeds and warn speeding drivers to slow down. These trailers are the first of their kind ever deployed within a highway work zone, worldwide.

Responsive Variable Speed Limit Signs

Onsite Project Traffic Operations Center

This is the first-ever project in Colorado to have an onsite Traffic Operations Center to monitor current roadway conditions and possibly reduce congestion by suggesting alternate routes to drivers when incidents occur. Typically, construction projects feed into the larger TOCs across the state. Having a TOC onsite benefits both motorists and the project team because the TOC can gather and provide real-time information.

The project team also coordinates bi-weekly with emergency service providers, and funds increased patrolling through the corridor to encourage motorists to adhere to posted speed limits. The project also has a dedicated Courtesy Patrol vehicle to help stalled or crashed vehicles get safely off the road -- and to keep traffic moving.

S. Gap Onsite Project Traffic Operations Center

Read KKTV's "18 miles: Gap operations center helps keep construction zone moving" article here